Connat (recipe)

From Cunnan

Contents 1 Period Recipe 1.1 Notes 2 Modern Recipe 2.1 Ingredients 2.2 Method 3 Notes

Period Recipe

From the Forme of Cury.

CONNATES. XVIII.

Take Connes and pare hem. pyke out the best and do hem in a pot of erthe. do þerto whyte grece þat he stewe þer inne. and lye hem up with hony clarified and with rawe zolkes and with a lytell almaund mylke and do þerinne powdour fort and Safron. and loke þat it be yleesshed,

Notes

• Connat seems to be a kind of marmalade of connes, or quinces, from Fr. Coing. Chaucer, v. Coines. Written quinces No. 30.
• Yolkes, i. e. of Eggs.
• yleesshed. V. Gloss.

Modern Recipe

Serves 6

Ingredients

• 2 quinces.
• 1 TBS butter.
• 1/4 - 1/2 cup sugar, depending on what sweetness you like. Note, honey in the original recipe.
• 2 egg yolks.
• 1/4 cup almond meal.
• Powder fort (cinnamon, ginger, mace, pepper, ..?? can't remember..).

Method

1. Quarter, pare and peel the quinces. Slice and put in a saucepan. The recipe doesn't state this, but I added just a bit of water so that the quince would not stick to the bottom of the pan when gently simmering (as one does for applesauce).
2. Simmer the fruit until it mushes (use a potato masher to get a nice smooth paste).
3. Add the sugar and cook down until thick.
4. Combine the 1/4 cup almond milk, 2 beaten egg yolks, and spices and add to the quince mix. Stir to combine, put back on low heat for 3-5 minutes (don't let the egg yolk curdle) while stirring often. Serve warm or cold.

Note: when we trialled this recipe, we did it for a person who is allergic to honey and so substituted sugar.

Gwir verch Madog.

Notes

The historical version of this recipe was taken from the Project Gutenberg e-text of the Forme of Cury.